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"Legacy" stands out as one of Star Wars Rebels' best episodes yet. Not only did it answer one of the show's first questions in a compelling way, testing Ezra Bridger's maturity, but it also raised bigger questions about the nature and will of the Force. On a practical level, I enjoyed watching Ezra's journey through confusion, frustration, optimism, sorrow, and hope. On a metaphysical level, I was thrilled to get to grapple once more with the idea of the Force as a living entity, a character in a story. As fun as it is to watch space battles and cantina shootouts, it's equally fun to wrestle with how our favorite characters are connected to that all-encompassing energy field.

Even the commanding presence of Ahsoka Tano couldn't save "Future of the Force" from being a generally lackluster Star Wars Rebels episode. The story was thin, the characters received scant development, and one plot point in particular defied all logic and proper characterization. It felt like most of the characters spent most of the time running, and as a result, the episode never had the chance to settle down and take on any coherent form. There might have been a way to rework the baby-snatching plot, which first appeared in The Clone Wars, to fit in the Rebels context. But this episode's story was so thin and empty that it's a wonder it took 22 minutes to tell.